Category: Videos

Saturday Matinee – Mean Mary James, Sam Chatmon, Boyd Rivers, Larry Carlton & Robben Ford

Mean Mary James burns through the traditional banjo standard “Cripple Creek.” Her bio is a jaw-dropper.

I don’t usually post two in a row from the same musician, but here’s Mean Mary and husband brother Frank James with “Joy,” an original song she wrote (with snippets from “Ode To Joy”).

The great Sam Chatmon plays Big Road Blues, That’s All Right & Sam’s Rag.

Boyd Rivers at the Mississippi Blues Festival 1980, introduced by Willie Dixon.

Ah, bullpoop. They’re not the greatest guitar players ever, but this is pretty good. Larry Carlton & Robben Ford jam the blues 2007.

That should do you folks for a while. Have a great weekend, see you tomorrow.

[Correction: Frank James is Mean Mary’s brother, not her husband. h/t  Steven Brooke.]

Saturday Matinee – Etta James, Johnny Otis, Contours, Ruth Brown & Illinois Jacquet

Etta James passed away on 20 January 2012, and there aren’t many live vids out there on the Utoobage (this one’s from 1962). She was tough on the eyes, but gorgeous on the ears.

We also lost the great Johnny Otis on 17 January. Although I never saw The Johnny Otis Show on television, his 1990s radio show was great, playing old R&B and early R&R. (I spoke with him on the phone once about some trivia about The Contours.)

So here are The Contours live in 1963. I love early R&B, so we might as well continue with that theme.

Ruth Brown recorded “(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean” in 1953, and it’s a great example of “jump blues” that morphed, terminology-wise from “Race Records” into “Rhythm and Blues” and later into “Rock and Roll.”

According to the late Eubie Blake, the phrase “Rock and Roll” originated in the late 1800s. It described a ragtime piano style that kept the patrons of brothels moving along. (Even the name “ragtime” is bawdy, and you can connect the dots for yourselves.)

Jump Blues. From the Utoobage description:

Illinois Jacquet and his band in the “Jive Crazy” scene from the 1949 noir movie “D.O.A.” — at least, according to the movie publicity.

So that might not be Illinois Jacquet’s band, but it’s still a great scene. And that makes five jumpy and jivey vids for the Saturday Matinee. Have a great weekend folks.

Saturday Matinee – Geek Magic, Mad Goose, Goose Grease, Glad ‘N Greasy & Greasy Wheel

Nice card trick… heh. Story behind it here.

Goose! Guy shoulda wrung its neck and brought the catch home. Yum!

And after you clean it, save the goose grease.
The late Roy Buchanan tells why.

The Beat Farmers‘ “Glad ‘N Greasy” fits. Poor video from the early 80s(?) was part of a demo tape they circulated. (Two of the original members are gone: Country Dick Montana and Buddy Blue.)

The Bryan Beller Band‘s “Greasy Wheel” is a nice bit of groovy oddness. (Listen for the Zappa influence… there’s a reason for that.)

That’s five vids to make the set.  Have a great weekend, folks, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow.

Saturday Matinee – Home Movies, Cold Water, Fabulous Thunderbirds & Zappa’s Black Napkins

Home movies – the Directors’ analysis.

Very cold water is very dense. Fishing in a frozen lake in Finland. Here’s an explanation [via]:

They have inflated their BCDs (vests) with air. This will make them float up to the ‘top’. This allows them to stand on the ice upside down. If there was no ice, they would surface. You can see when they breathe, the CO2 will float to the top (bottom) of the ice and it trapped. The wheel barrow is filled with CO2 expelled (poured in from the bucket). This makes it want to float too and hence will stick to the bottom of the ice until they dump it out, which will make it loose its buoyancy and sink to the bottom…

Happy birthday to Kim Wilson, one of the greatest blues harp blowers. Saw him with his original lineup in the early 80’s, pre-  Kid Ramos. Pure awesome then, pure awesome now. And just for the helluvit, here’ my favorite Zappa song to wrap it all up, “Black Napkins.”

Yeah, I may have posted that before, but so what – I like it. Have a great weekend, folks, be back here tomorrow for more fun and games.

Sunday Matinee – Liverdance, Falling Down Slow, Amboy Dukes

[h/t Internet Septic Tank Engineer]

[Found here.]

Amboy Dukes. [Found here, where Urban Infidel has posted vids of OWS racism.]

Things have been busy around TR HQ, and I almost forgot the first post of 2012! Happy New Year evahbubby!

Saturday Matinee – Christmas Eve

Monty Python’s Terry Gilliam’s 1968 Christmas Card is classic. [Found here.]

What a voice! Darlene Love sings her 1963 hit in 1993.

Brian Setzer rockin’ out from a few years ago with “Dig That Crazy Santa Claus.”

Three vids is enough for tonight. Have a Merry Christmas Eve.

Saturday Matinee – Bearded Dragon Ant Crusher Praying Mantis Cursor Eater Blue King Brown Toots Maytals Sharon Jones Dap Kings

[h/t Juan Epstein]

Praying Mantis, Praying Mantis, does whatever a Praying Mantis does.

Awesome Aussie RiddimReggae Rock.

Toots & The Maytals’ Pressure Drop.

Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings got the Southpaw.

Dang. Too much too little too late, but that gets me five. Have a great weekend. See you all tomorrow.

Saturday Matinee – Willie Dixon, Stones, Gatemouth Brown

Willie Dixon’s “Nervous.” (Dixon was one of the most prolific bluesmen of his time, and was a stutterer in real life, rarely sang because of it.)

“19th Nervous Breakdown” is a cool limp synch by the Anti-Beatles.

Gatemouth Brown was awesome, played Texas blues/swing with finesse and class.

Short post for Saturday as I’m out of town. See you back here tomorrow with more BoogedyBoogedy.

Saturday Matinee – Goose Parade, Bimbo’s Initiation, Jurassic Snark, Kitty Town, Allman Bros.


[Found here.]


Bimbo was Betty Boop’s boyfriend/dog pal back when Betty was still a dog in a miniskirt. (Note that Mickey Mouse shows up to mess with Bimbo at 00:28. The Fleisher Bros. were Disney’s closest competitor in the animation business at the time.)


The Best Of Jurassic Park That You Don’t Recall. [via]


Welcome to Kitty Town.


The Allman Brothers’ “Jessica” is one of the great country rock jams. Seems appropriate, since I’ve got a bit of traveling coming up next week.

Have a great weekend, folks, and be back here tomorrow for more hot muffins from the internest.

Saturday Matinee – Tom Waits, Leon Redbone, The Remains, Mink DeVille, The Black Keys

“Ol’ 55” became one of my favorite Tom Waits songs once I found that The Eagles only did a cover.

“Diddy Wah Diddy” is one of my favorite Leon Redbone songs, even though it was  a cover of Blind Blake’s original, not to be confused with Bo Diddley’s DWD. that was covered by Captain Beefheart as well as The Fabulous Thunderbirds (All four versions linked are worth a listen because Bunk knows what Diddy Wah Diddy means.)

The Remains‘ version of Bo Diddley’s song is, um, a version, but the retroness kinda makes up for the lameness of the Boston band’s cover.

Willy “Mink” DeVille was a punk rocker before the Sex Pistols screwed it all up. Moon Martin’s “Cadillac Walk” was a classic, and DeVille did a great cover.

The Black Keys just blow me away, and not just because of the retro rock sound. A 3-man group has to be good to crank, but for two guys to load and pull the trigger is pure awesome.

Have a great weekend folks. Be back here tomorrow.